7 smart and sassy crime fiction writers dish on writing and life.
It's The View. With bodies.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Uh-oh. What's the PROTOCOL for THAT?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Debut author day! And what fun to
find a brand new author with a brand new book—not only the reading-of-it part,
but the idea that there’s a person who now knows the joys and the delights, the
terrors and the fears. The hugely satisfying moment when that new box of
books arrives—and your dream has come true.

And you also know that inevitably, someone will ask:
where did you get your idea? But ha! Kathleen Valenti has a terrific and
tantalizing (and terrifying!) answer. Whoa. What would you do if this happened
to you?

(There’s more about her bookPROTOCOL below. And an ARC to one
lucky commenter!)

(And yesterday's winners below!)

Technobabbling

By Kathleen Valenti

My husband and I recently watched Apollo 13 with our two children. The film’s a favorite of ours and
was a natural inclusion in our self-designed list of Films the Kids Must See.
(Last month’s showing: The Princess Bride.)

Our pre-teen son is a movie mimic, so I knew he’d love
the zippy one-liners. His favorite line wasn’t the iconic real-life utterance, “Houston,
we have a problem,” but rather the reference to technological advances “like a computer that can fit into a single room.”

Forget space travel and rockets and
astronauts stranded in a flying life raft. The idea of

a room-sized computer was
what captured his imagination.

It made me think of how far
technology has come.

That computer that guided the
astronauts’ journey? It can now fit inside a cell phone. And that cell phone?
In a recent survey, eighty-four percent of Americans said they couldn’t go a
day without it.

It also called to mind the genesis of
one of my book’s primary storylines.

Technology has a starring role in my
debut novel, Protocol, not because
I’m super-techy (understatement alert), but because its omnipresence, with all
of its attendant risks, gave me an idea for a murder mystery after I had my own
technology puzzle to solve.

Several years ago, I sent my laptop
to the manufacturer for repair. It came back with someone else’s hard drive,
complete with all its digital contents. Turned out the computer snafu went both
ways. My hard drive had been swapped into the computer that once housed the
stranger’s hard drive I now possessed.

The mix-up left both of us vulnerable
and me with the seed of an idea for a hook for the book I always wanted to
write.

Houston, I have an idea.

Ideas, as they say, can come from
anywhere. Evidently that includes computer problems.

I have a love-hate relationship with
technology, and I think many of us can relate. After all, it’s responsible for both
important advancements in science and medicine (and cute cat videos) and a
crack through which danger can crawl, whether by hacking, identity theft or
something much more nefarious.

So what is technology for you?
Blessing? Curse? The font of awesome BuzzFeed quizzes? (I just learned that if
I were a sandwich, I’d be a PB&J.)

And what real-life events have
inspired you creatively? We may not be astronauts stranded in space, but we all
have moments—big, small, happy and tragic—that inform the stories we tell.

HANK: Wait wait wait! What happened
about the hard drive?

(I admit I always take those tests,
too. Except for the ones that make it clear they’re swiping your entire email
list. Plus, it’s fun to take them twice and see how you can make them come out
the way you want, right?)

And you know every one of the
inciting moments of my books is a version of something that really happened to
me.

But technobabble! The things that
come out of our mouths—the two years ago
we’d have no idea what meant! (How many gigs of ram? I store it all in the cloud?)What have you said recently, Reds and
readers, that surprised you with your techno-knowledge?

Or else: what's on your list of must-see movies for kids? (And see below for yesterday's winners!)

----

Kathleen Valenti is the author of Protocol, the story of freshly
minted college graduate Maggie O’Malley who embarks on a pharmaceutical career
fueled by professional ambition and a desire to escape the past. Yet on her
very first day of work, Maggie’s pulled into a world of uncertainty as reminders
appear on her phone for meetings she’s never scheduled with people she’s never
met. People who end up dead.

When Kathleen isn’t writing page-turning mysteries
that combine humor and suspense, she works as a nationally award-winning
copywriter. She lives in Oregon with her family where she pretends to enjoy
running. Protocol is her debut novel
and the first of the Maggie O’Malley mystery series.

Hank, October Sky is a movie based on the true story of Homer Hickam, who worked for NASA. It's a spectacularly well made movie. My dad actually wrote and got an answer back from Hickam after seeing the movie and reading his books.

Thanks so much, Joan! And I absolutely love your list of must-see movies. (October Sky is definitely a fave.)

The hard drive: OY. So the short story is that the computer company said, "Aw, man. That is a bummer!" And did nothing else. (Blink. Blink.)

We tried to get in touch with the folks who had our hard drive, but weren't able to find current contact information, despite the fact we knew so much about them. In the end, we had their hard drive wiped and disposed of and hoped they did the same for ours. I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend many sleepless nights wondering what the fallout would be. So far, so good. But you never know!

Wow . . . that's not at all what I thought you would say about the hard drive mix-up, Kathleen.

Hank, sorry to be so slow to answer . . . brand new grandbaby Mia is keeping us busy. Homer Hickam did not like the "October Sky" title for the film; I guess writers don't have too much input when their books become movies. At any rate, it's definitely a movie to see and “Rocket Boys” is a book to read . . . .

Kathleen, congrats on your debut novel! I am sure that it is quite the heady experience. I'm sure when you walk into a bookstore and see the book on the shelves you'll be even more blown away.

As for what I've said that surprised me regarding my techo-knowledge, I would say that starting to text is surprising enough.

Kids movies? Well, I guess it depends on what you think is good. I know animated movies get a lot of love but I always try to think of movies that won't make adults cringe with the stupidity of plots. And that tends to rule out most cartoon movies these days.

Thanks so much, Jay! Heady is exactly right!! It's absolutely thrilling, and more than a little nerve-wracking, to send your book baby out into the world. I liken it to taking my first-born to the first day of kindergarten. :)

Wizard of Oz is such a classic! Love that movie. My daughter was terrified of the monkeys (sounds like she's in good company), but was soothed by the ruby slippers. :)

Oh the poor hard drive. The switcheroo was never switched back. We tried to no avail to find the folks whose drive we had (which is in itself amazing) and the computer company refused to help us switch back or put us in touch with one another. Strange, eh?

We had their drive wiped and disposed of and hoped for the best with ours. So far, so good, although I gained some (more) gray hair in the process.

The book is a combination of this inspired-by-my-own-experiences technology angle, plus a medical mystery/thriller, which begins on my heroine's first day of work. It's twisty, turny and a little funny, which is my favorite kind of book to read. :)

Isn't it great the way life has a way of dealing you great story ideas... if you're listening. But what a pain! How did you get it resolved, and did you meet your mutual victim?

My big techno challenge recently was getting a new Mac... transferring files and especially email which I was dreading. Which brings to me to Facebook, which I never thought I'd like, but I posted a picture of my new computer piggybacked on top of my old, and moaned about having to figure out having to transfer email, and just like that a link and advice came from Jane (whom I've never met other than FB) and I was home free.

I love texting... but I only text with my kids. It makes me feel connected to them and my grandkids even though we're miles apart. And we can find each other on street corners, bus stations, and airports.

Which brings me to... Kathleen, did that stranger get your text messages, too? What does happen when you get someone else's hard drive... other than having all their files?

It was SUCH a pain and caused tremendous anxiety. It's sort of like losing your purse--on steroids. You can't "stop" the flow of information like you can cancel credit cards, and you wonder how much personal data is visible and usable.

Sadly, there was no resolution. We tried to find the folks whose drive we had, but weren't able to track them down, despite all of the info we had about them (courtesy of their hard drive, naturally). Worst of all, the computer company didn't do anything other than proclaim it a darn shame. It was frustrating, to put it lightly.

The good news is that there hasn't been any fallout. (Knock wood.) AND I got a hook for my book. So maybe a happy ending? That's how I try to look at it. :)

As for must see movies for kids, so funny… My stepson and I were talking about this last weekend, and for our 14-year-old grandson, I suggested the last starfighter. Which I love. Paul laughed and said he had tried to show that very movie, and that it turns out it is kind of… Boring. How can that be?

I am off to the doctor for a check up, back soon and back to chat! You guys hold down the fort.

My brother-in-law gave me his iPad. I couldn't figure out what all these calendar events were until I figured out it was linked to his Facebook account. Since I've worked at computer companies for almost 20 years, I'm pretty tech-friendly, but if I looked at the thing from my husband's POV, instant mystery fodder.

Not much has ever happened to me that I could turn into book fodder (I'm so boring). And every movie we say the kids "must watch" turns into 90 minutes of listening to them complain, so we gave up on that one. :-/

I hear ya on movie recommendations. The kids usually groan when we invite (okay, force) them to watch our favorites. They usually end up loving them, in spite of their best intentions. :)

The hard drives remained swapped! We could never figure out how to get a hold of the swapees, and the computer company offered their condolences but little else. The biggest loss (other than many nights' sleep!) was photos that I'd put on the hard drive and hadn't backed up. Boy, did that teach me a lesson!

Kathleen - Congrats on your debut novel. That is thrilling! The premise of your book sounds terrific. I love the immediate feeling of vulnerability the description conveyed -- to have appointments show up on your phone with people you don't know only to discover they've been killed. I must know what happens! I'm a techno junkie with a weakness for apps - current fave is Pixomatic! Our latest family movie night was The Big Lebowski - but my boys are teens so we may run a bit older. I haven't taken the sandwich quiz yet but am pretty sure I'd be a ham on rye. LOL.

In the bank where I worked when I first graduated from college, the computer room WAS the computer! And now I carry one around in my pocket!

With my cell phone I still do all the things I did before, but now I do them on the cell phone: reading the news, checking the weather, writing to family and friends, looking up movies at the local movie theater, etc.

The first movie that pops into my head that I think would be appropriate for kids is It's a Wonderful Life. I saw it for the first time when I was in second grade, and it was the first movie where the ending made me cry tears of happiness. My dad said to me "See? Every life is important." I think all people, not just kids need to know that.

I'm probably the only person around who has not seen the movie Apollo 13. I did see parts of it on TV, but even though I know how it ended it it was too intense for me!

My first exposure to computers was in 1974, when I worked for a large developer in Cincinnati. They owned the building, and various parts of the business were tenants, including a big commercial construction company. I worked in the accounts payable department, and once in awhile I had to walk over to the computer room to hand something off to Jerry, who was the only person who worked there. He was the king of the punch cards.

What I remember most clearly was the noise, and the icy temperatures in that room. He had a big window so he could see who was in the hallway, and we could see him, but the door was only opened a couple times a day, and we rarely saw Jerry outside of it. Thinking back on this now, I wonder about that!

It's astonishing how much technology has evolved since then. Not only do we have a computer that fits in the palms of our hands, but it's also a phone (with no long distance charges!), a very good camera that needs no film, a music- and movie-playing device, a news source, weather alert system, entertainment and games delivery, library, financial resource, and connection to the entire rest of the world.

I got chills just thinking of losing my entire hard drive to someone else. This is the ultimate thriller, I'm sure, because we can all relate!

Exactly! ANd you are so right--a few weeks ago, I was walking down Congress Street in Boston, watching, on my phone, streaming live video of my husband giving his closing arguments in a case i a courtroom across town.. WHoa.

When I was in college in the '80's, we had to use a computer for a political science statistics class. Back then, few, if any people, had their own computer, and we had to sign up to use the university's computers in the computer lab. Of course, whenever I got there, the only available times were 11 pm to 3 am, AND we had to use DOS and BASIC and write our own programs. I got a job on Capitol Hill as a legislative correspondent after graduation, and we had to handle all of our correspondence on our IBM memory typewriters -- no desktop computers ~

I love the part in Apollo 13 where they are trying to figure out a trajectory course or something, and they all pull out their slide rules!

My must see movies for my daughter were the old Disney ones, including all the Haley Mills movies (especially The Moonspinners and Summer Magic), old movies like Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell (one of her favorites), Desk Set, Oliver, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (another favorite) and Swiss Family Robinson. RE: Wizard of Oz, those monkeys still freak me out!

The slide rule scene! So awesome!! My dad, who was a petroleum engineer (no, really) tried to convince our son to use one when doing calculations. He got blank looks all around. :)

And I totally remember doing everything on typewriter! I was an English major and not a very good typist. I think I spent more time retyping than actually writing! Fortunately, my best friend is a medical transcriptionist and lightning fast on the keyboard. She took mercy on me many a time.

Thanks for the congrats on Protocol, Celia! (Have I mentioned that my daughter is a Cecilia, whom we often call Celia?!) I appreciate it so very much. <3

Oh man. What possibilities. The idea of having someone else's hard drive is scary for what secrets might be lurking there. And what someone could do with mine. Yikes! Must read this book to find out what you did with it.

Yes, it was very much a feeling of exposure. I mean, we didn't have anything--ahem--untoward on there, but STILL. You hope whoever is on the other side won't take your personal information and use it to steal your identity--or pictures of your children to go steal THEM.

Years ago a backup computer was stolen, along with other stuff, from a storage shed we were renting. I know my husband was very perturbed about it. It had a manuscript saved on it that he was working on. As far as I know there were no repercussions. Movies for kids? Well, we don't have any of those around anymore. Our granddaughter is 17. I avoid animated movies as so many of those are just bone-aching boring. How about the John Candy/Dan Ackroyd movie The Great Outdoors? That one makes me laugh every time. And it certainly has enough "juvenile" AKA male humor in it to crack up the kids.

Congratulations Kathleen! My tech immersion was forced. I joined the Marines in 1974, thinking somehow I was joining the Merchant Marines and thinking I'd be working on a cruise ship... –my excuse? My family was girl-heavy, all aunts and sisters and female cousins, never saw a John Wayne movie. After many rude awakenings in bootcamp, (August in SouthCarolina -only a clueless NH girl would choose that month) I got my orders to electronics school in the Mojave Desert... I sat on my bunk and cried -I stared at a wall outlet and imagined it was full of electricity and wanted nothing to do with it. Part of the school was taught on computers (yes in 1974), since they were so fragile and the desert so hot, our classes were held from 10 pm to 6 am. Basically, I remember spending the days at the pool and wondering how I got myself into the military. I ended up excelling in electronics and working in a USMC TVvan as the sound person. I went on to major in Biology and worked in cancer research labs. My only regret was not falling in love with technology and science sooner in high school -girls weren't even allowed to take these classes; unless, like me you got thrown out of home ec and dumped into geometry as a punishment (loved it) I am so happy to see STEM and STEAM classes but still -way over due!

CJG, I love your story!! What an amazing journey. It's so cool how what began as a mistake turned into a wonderful opportunity. And, man, the part about girls not being "allowed" to participate in these classes blows my mind. Definitely glad to see STEM/STEAM opportunities for EVERYONE. xo

Yay on the book, Kathy! A hard drive mix-up would freak me out; you've taken a very zen approach! I'm lucky in that I have an in-house tech guy in the form of a hubby who's a software engineer. I get instantaneous tech support and upgrades without even having to ask for them!

Congratulations, Kathy! Your book sounds really interesting. Actually, it's similar to the book I'm SLOWLY plugging away at, in that it involves a text received by mistake. Other than that, it doesn't sound similar at all -- just intriguing. Can't wait to read it!

Our family loves Apollo 13, too. And Field of Dreams (My kids are older). Also, A League of Their Own and You've Got Mail. Gotta love Tom Hanks!

Technology and especially computers is a perfect topic today as I am faced with a laptop that won't come on today. Having my phone isn't as good for me, and I have a blog post for my review of Rhys' latest Georgie to put on. Not sure I can manage that through my phone. How helpless and lost I feel not having a computer at the ready. Maybe too dependent. I'll see what the Geek Squad has to say.

Kathy, your experience with getting back someone else's hard drive is so scary, and I'll be thinking about that as I take my computer in for repair. I would think that whoever made that mistake would be falling all over himself to make things right with you.

Congratulations on your debut, Kathy. Protocol is definitely going on my TBR list. What a great idea for a story.

WHAT I WOULD DO IF MY HARD DRIVE WAS SWITCHED...Being "paranoid" of others, I would copy the others' hard drive, immediately call the service, yell at them, demand my hard drive back - that they contact the one who has mine and drive over there if necessary to get it, etc. And get it and replace mine back. The reason I would have a copy of his/her is to have a quid pro quo in case they had copied any of my contacts or IP. I would want to be able to dicker, or whatever :) in order to make them stop using my data.

I will be anxiously awaiting your release. Congratulations on this wonderful event. My youth was spent using a wall phone where you had two or three other people in your neighborhood all on the same party line. We took pictures with black and white film on a Brownie camera and it took weeks and weeks to finish that roll if film and then another few weeks to get this puctures developed. So now in my older years, I have this amazing smart phone, all my own, 😏, and can send messages and get replies back almost instantly from texting and email. Plus I take pictures and ten seconds later it is being viewed by friends and family a half a world away. My need for information has answers at my fingertips, no more waiting days to get to the library to find out things like in the 50's. Of every type of technology I live my phone so much and I find it very comforting to also know that if and when I need someone in an emergency that this will probably be what gets me through a bad situation or medical emergency.

Cynthia, I remember the wall phone! My mom had an avacado one to match her avacado kitchen. When she remodeled to orange and harvest gold, she felt the avacado provided a lovely complement. Ah those days!

I do love my phone. I resisted getting a smartphone for ages. Now that I have one, it rarely leaves my side. It's one powerful, pocket-sized computer!

Kathleen, welcome to Jungle Reds. The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies of all time. For me, technology has been a blessing. I started with Wyndtell pager, then Motorola pager, then the flip phone from Ericcson. I had the flip phone for a long time until it broke when I dropped it. Bad timing! By that time, they were stating to sell smartphones. I did a lot of research and bought my first iPhone in 2010? The pager was the only way I could send text messages and the pager had a text to voice so I could send short messages to friends. However, my friends and relatives told me the voice sounded like a computer. Now almost everyone has text messaging which is great! It is funny that people still ask for my phone number and I say "sorry I do not talk on the phone".

I somehow missed pagers, but I remember when my dad got his "car phone." So exotic!

I hear ya on dropping phones. My worst drop was into a puddle of slushy water. After that, my phone would spontaneously call one of my friends. Only him. And only when it felt like it. HEY, that could've been a book idea! :)

Whoa, Kathleen, you described my worst nightmare. Seriously. I have had dreams about things like that. I don't trust technology and I am convinced and evil genie lives inside my hard drive. Come to think of it, I'm not sure that my hard drive isn't an evil genie! Protocol sounds like a must read on my bookshelf. Best of luck with it.

The biggest tech thing I love is the instantaneous connection (with pictures) to my daughter and gkids in Calif. the book sounds REALLY good. But the in it ing incident is a bummer for you (& probably the other hard drive folks.)SPACEBALLS is one of the required movies in our family. 😉 My mom loved GOONIES. And not long ago my son had his kids watch ET.

Goonies has a special place in my heart since it was filmed in my home state of Oregon. :) And you definitely can't beat the immediacy of the internet to connect to people across the miles! I confess: I do love Facebook!!

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